These sourdough bagel bites are just like the ones you can buy from Starbucks, but they taste even better because of the sourdough! Filled with cream cheese, these bagel bites make a warm and yummy breakfast or snack. Once you’ve made them once, you’ll be hooked!
Who doesn’t love a bagel with cream cheese? Whether you’re an everything bagel fanatic or a cinnamon sugar devotee, you’re sure to enjoy bagel bites! All your favorite things about a bagel are combined in cute, bite-sized form for an addicting sourdough treat.
One fun thing about bagel bites is that you can easily customize them by adding different toppings before you bake them. (I love everything bagel seasoning, especially from Trader Joe’s 🙂 ) You can use cinnamon sugar, parmesan, cheddar, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, whatever you like!
Although these bagel bites do require a bit of time to shape and boil, they are absolutely worth it! They’re actually pretty hard to mess up and don’t even need a second proof, making them a great recipe for practicing with sourdough starter.
Why do you put baking soda in the water to boil bagels?
Putting baking soda in the water makes the water more basic, which will give the bagels a crispy, pretzel-like exterior.
Proofing timing:
These bagel bites don’t require a true second proofing – you just need to refrigerate them for at least an hour before boiling and baking them. If you want to enjoy them in the morning, you can make the dough the morning before and form the bagel bites at night. Then refrigerate them overnight and boil/bake them the next morning. As long as you refrigerate them for 1 hour before boiling them, they should turn out fine!
Tips for making Sourdough Bagel Bites:
- If you have a stand mixer, you can use it to knead the bagel dough. This is really helpful because the dough is a bit sticky. However, if you don’t have a stand mixer, you can just knead the dough by hand for 5 minutes instead. Either way works!
- Make sure that you freeze the cream cheese balls for at least 20 minutes before you start assembling the bagel bites. This will make sure that the cream cheese doesn’t start to soften and melt when you make the bagel bites.
- You can top these bagel bites with whatever you like! I love everything bagel seasoning, but you could also do parmesan + pepper, cinnamon + sugar, sesame seeds, sea salt, etc. Or enjoy them plain, whichever you prefer!
- You can freeze these bagel bites for an easy breakfast on a busy morning! Just make sure to use an airtight container and to enjoy them within 3 months.
Tools you will need
- Stand mixer (or knead the dough by hand)
- Parchment paper
- Large pot to boil the bagel bites in
- Rack to let the bagel bites dry on
Ingredients you will need
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- Optional toppings: everything bagel seasoning, parmesan cheese, cinnamon sugar, etc.
How to make Sourdough Bagel Bites:
Combine the flour, starter, maple syrup, water, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for 10 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Alternatively, if you don’t have a stand mixer, you can just mix the ingredients by hand and then knead it for 5 minutes. Let the dough proof until doubled in size. This can take about 12 hours.
Drop 2 tsp of cream cheese at a time onto a baking tray linked with parchment paper to make 15 little balls. Freeze them until the dough has proofed.
Separate the dough into 15 balls. Take one ball and roll it out into a circle. Put a ball of the frozen cream cheese in the middle, and wrap the dough around it. Pinch the edges to seal the cream cheese inside. Repeat for the remaining balls of dough and cream cheese.
Refrigerate the balls for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. (I like to use the convection setting on my oven to make sure the bagel bites cook evenly, but if you don’t have it, that’s fine too.)
Boil 6 cups of water with 1 tbsp of baking soda.
Drop the bagel bites into the water 3 or 4 at a time and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from the pot and let cool on a rack.
Top with your favorite toppings, or leave the bagel bites plain. Some of my favorite toppings include everything bagel seasoning, cinnamon and sugar, and parmesan.
Bake the bagel bites for 15 minutes, until slightly browned. Serve warm!
Did you enjoy these sourdough bagel bites?
If so, check out other fun sourdough recipes at the Kitchen Counter! Some favorites include:
Sourdough Bagel Bites
Filled with cream cheese, these bagel bites make a yummy breakfast or snack!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- Optional toppings: everything bagel seasoning, parmesan cheese, etc.
Instructions
- Combine the flour, starter, maple syrup, water, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for 10 minutes, until the dough forms a ball.
- Let proof until doubled in size. This can take about 12 hours.
- Drop 2 tsp of cream cheese at a time onto parchment to make 15 little balls. Freeze them until the dough has proofed.
- Separate the dough into 15 balls.
- Take one ball and roll it out into a circle. Put a ball of the frozen cream cheese in the middle, and wrap the dough around it. Repeat for the remaining balls of dough and cream cheese.
- Refrigerate the balls for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
- Boil 6 cups of water with 1 tbsp of baking soda.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
- Drop the bagel bites into the water 3 or 4 at a time and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from the pot and let cool on a rack.
- Top with your favorite toppings, or leave the bagel bites plain.
- Bake the bagel bites for 15 minutes, until slightly browned. Serve warm!
Nutrition Information
Yield 15 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 119Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 9mgSodium 496mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 3g
These look incredible!🤩
2 tsp or 2 TBSP of cream cheese? It says both a few different places.
Thanks!
2 tsp of cream cheese is just the right amount!
This just reminded me how sad I was when Starbucks discontinued selling their bagel bites, but now I can make my own!!!
I’m trying everything seasoning and cinnamon sugar. How do I store the leftovers?
That sounds so yummy! You can store leftover bagel bites in an air-tight container in the fridge for about 3-4 days. Just pop them in the microwave to reheat them!
Does the starter need to be active or will discard work?
Active starter works best for these!
AP flour or bread flour??
I used AP flour, because that’s what I had at the time, but either would work!
Do I let it proof on the counter or fridge? Thanks
On the counter will work the best 🙂
These are very delicous. I stuffed 1/2 with cream cheese and 1/2 with herb cheese (alouette). My only issue is the dough was very wet and sticky – even after I gave it a cold ferment (after the counter ferment). Would you suggest reducing the water or the starter? I am in South Fl where it is hot and humid though my house is 72-74. I have read some people suggest reducing the starter in this situation. Any suggestions?
Yes, you can reduce the amount of sourdough starter you use. Some other things to try would be reducing the amount of water or adding a little extra flour to the dough so it’s easier to work with. Hope this helps!
I made these exactly by the recipe and they are delicious! I have a question, how to you keep the cream cheese from oozing out? Some of it stayed in, but a lot of it oozed out.
Glad you liked them! Making sure to pinch the dough tightly once you’ve wrapped it around the cream cheese will help. You can also put the bagel bites seam side down on your counter and spin them a bit to pinch the seam tighter. Also the refrigeration step will keep the cream cheese from getting too warm and oozing out. Hope this helps!
These were SOOOO good! I’ll be making more and freezing for easy breakfasts for the kids during the school year!
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed them!
Could I use honey instead of maple syrup?
Absolutely!
I can’t wait to try them! I just mixed everything together!! Bagel bites are my favorite!!
That’s great! Let me know what you think!